Culver Creek Memoirs
by CryogenicUkulele
Summary: I've learned a lot at the Creek. In friendships, I've encountered both gain and loss, & both have changed me from the friendless, Florida Miles. But no matter how bent & broken I become, I need never be hopeless because I can never be irreparably broken. Series of one-shots about Pudge and his friends, through the good and the bad at Culver Creek. Rated M for mostly language.
1. Great Folks

**Hello all! Sorry I haven't been posting. I've been trying to get stories put together and ideas put together so they seem at least somewhat decent. I have a few ideas, and this story was one of them. This will be, like said in the description a series of one-shots about Pudge and company. Now, I'll try to write a lot about the other characters, but I _really_ love the Colonel. He's my favorite character and always has been since I read the book the first time because I love his character and traits, I can relate to him sometimes, and he's great to analyze :D and if you don't like him that much, I'm sorry, but I'm not your writer :(**

**But also, not only will a lot of these be either about him or at least have him in them, some of them will branch off of my first story Famous Amos. So, if you haven't read that yet, you can if you'd like, but I'm not saying you have to. But if you don't understand something that's going on, you'll probably wanna skim through the story.**

**This chapter doesn't involve much of that story, except like two references, but it's explained a little, I believe. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first "chapter" to this series of one-shots :) **

**I do not own ****_Looking for Alaska._**

When I came back from Christmas break, my parents had helped me bring a lot of my stuff back to my room. I had taken all of my stuff to get it washed and/or fixed if necessary. They looked around my room, even though it was exactly the same as last year. Though it wasn't the same room, it was identical.

"I hope you had a good break, honey."

"I did, mom." Which wasn't a lie, I got gifts and all the works, but I couldn't help but think of my friends back here. Takumi had gone with Lara over the break, which resulted in the Colonel and I talking about whether or not she was just being kind and sweet to Takumi, or if the MC was in for a wild, Romanian ride.

"He's gonna get some, I can feel it."

"You can feel it?"

"Yeah… haven't you ever had a hunch that a guy was gonna get some?" I shook my head. "Oh, Pudge, you are so young…"

Which was funny for him to say, because technically, I'm a year older than him, despite us being in the same grade.

My mom brought over a suitcase of my shirts, folded nicely on top of each other and packed into the small bag like a can of sardines. She forced me to let her unpack some of my things this time, since now they're used to me being gone and I'm used to both atmospheres. She smiled at me and opened my suitcase. "So where's Chip?"

"Don't know… he might not even be here yet." As I said that, I saw the green duffel bag under his bed. "Oh wait, nevermind, he must be here already… and unpacked."

"Oh, well he's fast. How've they been?"

"They've been good. They didn't do much over Christmas break, I know they stayed at home to celebrate the holidays, just he and Dolores."

"No dad?"

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I knew something about my roommate that my parents didn't, and that was his history with his dad. "His dad's not really… in the picture."

My mom stopped unpacking for a minute, remembering the news on Thanksgiving. "That's too bad," my mom said unpacking my things more and being happier about it than anyone really should've been. She was trying not to focus on the Thanksgiving story and unpacking helped take her mind off it.

My dad glanced at me. He had known about the news just as much as mom had (since the secret, if you could call it that got out during Thanksgiving). I could tell the news bothered him, probably because he was a dad and I guess I'd understand how he felt if I was a father, but for now, I only understand what it's like to be the victim's friend.

My mom turned to put my clothes in a drawer, but it was the wrong drawer. "Mom, no, that's not mi-"

I couldn't reach her in time before she opened the drawer. I closed my eyes and kept to myself so that I wouldn't laugh at her reaction when she saw the drawer. It wasn't my drawer, it was the Colonel's.

At the beginning of my junior year, when I first came to Culver Creek and met the Colonel, Takumi, and Alaska, my drawers were just as neat as they would be once my mother calmed down, but the Colonel didn't care about cleanliness or drawers and what was in them. Drawers were created equal to him, just like mankind.

She looked at the drawer and back at me. "Miles Halter, what is this?"

"Mom, that's not my drawer."

"Then, whose is it?" Just as she asked that, the Colonel opened the door.

"Hey, Pudge, I see that you're back. Have you seen my ci-" He saw that my parents were there in the room and he fell silent. "Uh, am I interrupting something?"

"No, no, no, you're not. Mom, my drawer's the one over there." I rushed over to the Colonel. "What d'ya need, buddy?"

He followed me as I closed the door. "Did you just call me _buddy_?"

"Sorry, my mom was about to have some kind of massive, OCD breakdown in there, 'cause she opened your drawer instead of mine."

The Colonel put his arms up in mock surrender. "Oh no, drawers are being opened that aren't poor little Pudge's. Call the police, call the FBI, the SWAT team, fly the flags at half-staff, my drawer was opened."

"Look, you're not exactly neat and tidy."

"Yeah, I also have a deep voice, I'm short, and I'm a genius, nice to meet you again, Miles, thanks for pointing out facts that we already know."

"Glad that appendicitis and that hemorrhaging didn't dampen your sarcasm, Colonel."

We came back and opened the door to our room. My parents were still in there and my mom was just putting my shirts into my drawer. "Hi, honey, glad you're back."

"Hi mom."

"Hi, Chip," my dad said walking up to him and shaking his hand and patting his shoulder. The Colonel glanced at me, giving me a 'what-the-fuck-was-that-for?' face. I mouthed 'I'll explain it later".

"Mr. Halter, Mrs. Halter, glad to see you guys again."

"Same to you; how've you been? I hope you're feeling better," my mom said turning from the shirts for a bit.

"Yep, I'm completely healed and I'm on my last round of antibiotics. Supposed to be done with the entire thing by the end of this week."

_"This_ week? That must've been a pretty bad infection."

"Oh, believe me, it wasn't pleasant, but being on break was good for me. The doctors said I would need to do nothing, but lay around all day. But hey, who's going to complain about that?" My dad laughed in agreement. The Colonel was great at small talk, unlike me. He could hold a conversation with someone about something that was the most ridiculous topic, but he could do it… though, he would eventually lose his patience, unlike me.

"Well, Miles, we gotta get going. We hope you enjoy the rest of the year… of your senior year." My mom sounded like she was going to cry.

"I will; bye guys." I quickly ushered them out before my mom could turn into a puddle of tears, but not before giving them both hug.

"Goodbye Chip."

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Halter." And they left. The Colonel laughed again, just like he did at the beginning of the year. "You got great folks, Pudge."

"Why are they great?"

"They're so… _parenty_. It's like how parents should be."

"Your mom's awesome, Colonel."

"Hell yeah she is, but I only got half the deal." He went and sat at his desk. "But I'll live."

I continued to unpack the rest of my stuff when the Colonel walked over to his drawers and opened them to get something. He just laughed under his breath and sighed heavily.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Then why did you sigh?"

He opened the drawer further and moved so I could get a clear view. Shirts were folded perfectly and put into four nice piles, one right after the other. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Dude, _your_ mom just folded all of _my_ laundry."

I turned back to unpacking my stuff, still laughing. It didn't surprise me, but it sure as hell surprised the Colonel. His mom didn't fold his laundry for him (he didn't expect her to at all) and he wasn't going to do it himself, so having something done for him was strange. "That's my mom for you."

"Yeah, like I said," the Colonel exclaimed sitting at his desk, a smile on his face, "You got great folks."


	2. Why the Colonel is so short

**Another one! I felt like the first one was kinda short, but it was meant to just kinda keep me writing while I think of stuff for an actual plot-line story I have in mind. So, I posted this one too :)**

**This one's kinda dark, but I hope there's a few moments that lighten the mood a little. This is mostly set when the Colonel and his mom went to Florida with Pudge for Thanksgiving Break, which was mentioned in Famous Amos.**

**This is my personal interpretation of why the Colonel is so short. I thought about his character and where he came from before the actual book, and I thought this could've actually happened. **

**Warning: There's mentions of child abuse in here, so be warned. If that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to skip this one and either go on or wait if there's no more. I'll try to upload as regularly as possible. :)**

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

**I do not own****_ Looking for Alaska._**

A thought that has been in the back of my mind since I first came to Culver Creek is the reason behind the Colonel's short stature. He doesn't look like someone who would usually be short, since he's so muscular, but every person is different. Don't get me wrong, some people are short, but he's like... _really_ short.

I mean, I've joked about it, like when I said he couldn't afford to be any taller, but I had wondered why he was short.

I asked him once, but he just sat there and thought for a while. I couldn't tell if he was coming up with an excuse or if he honestly didn't know. "I guess it could be genetics, I actually don't know an exact reason."

"Are there a lot of short people in your family?"

"Hell if I know. I've just always been short."

That was at the beginning of the year, but during Thanksgiving Break, when the Colonel and his mother stayed at my house for a week. The Colonel did a lot of sleeping then, so I did a lot of talking to Dolores. During that time, I learned a lot about the Colonel and his whole past, possibly stuff that he'd never tell me.

But during one time, when Chip had fallen asleep up in the guest bed my parents put in my room, I took the time to ask Dolores the question that had plagued my mind since 128 days Before.

"Hey, Dolores?"

"Yes, Miles?"

"I've always wanted to know this, and I may be over-passing some form of boundary and tell me if I am, but… why is the co- Chip, so-"

"Short?"

I was silent. "How'd you know I was gonna ask that?"

"I've been asked by lots of folk. A lot of people have come up t' me and asked 'bout my boy, but the most popular question is 'Why is he so short?' I'll tell you plain and simple, honey, Chip wasn't supposed to be short."

"He wasn't?"

"No; I's got tall relatives, his daddy's 6'2", and has tall folks. Chip was bound to shoot up like a tree once he became a teenager, but his growth plates was damaged at a real young age."

"How young," I asked, almost hesitantly.

"When he was just a month short of his first birthday."

"How could they be damaged when he was just a baby?"

"Because Chip was abused, honey. His daddy never wanted him, and only a few times did he act like he cared about my boy. He'd beat him every chance he got, and I'd have t' take him places with these big bruises all over his poor little face. Folks would gimme these looks, like I did it, and one time, I got so sick of it, I screamed, 'It was his father!' and stormed out of the store. No one could call anyone, 'cause no one knew who I was. But, we got out and I'm always thankful for that. I couldn't bear seeing that bastard hit my boy."

"Wow, I-I'm so sorry, I had no idea-"

"Don't stutter, Miles, ya have nothing to apologize for anyways." The Colonel walked out from the doorway and sat at the dining room table. "Hi, honey, how're ya feelin'?"

"Tired… just tired and sore." I was still silent, a little taken aback from the story I was just told. I'd known the Colonel was the victim of an alcoholic, abusive father, but it hit me when I heard to what extent he was abused.

"What's eating you?"

"Huh? Nothing, nothing, I'm fine." He glared at me, not believing me for a second. It sometimes sucks knowing someone who knows you _so well._ "Uh, would you like something to drink, Dolores? I'm about to go get someth-"

"So it was dad?" Dolores looked at the Colonel. They stared at each other for a while, the Colonel looking pretty expressionless, but we both knew he heard the story and it upset him.

"Yes, hun, it was him."

"Why would he do that? So, I'm short because of him. I mean, I don't care about the height, I've been short for this long, no use getting mad about it now, but… but he hurt me, mom." The Colonel looked at Dolores with a look of exhaustion and what seemed like betrayal. "He hurt me permanently."

"I know he did, and that's why he's not here anymore." The Colonel didn't look too angry, but there wasn't happiness either. He looked somewhat upset, like he was… disappointed. "Yes, Miles, um… ya got any beer?"

"I think so."

"Can I have one too?"

"No," Dolores said laughing. "You know the doctor said no alcohol while you're on these meds."

The Colonel laughed too. I laughed at the fact that she told him he couldn't have any because the meds said so, not because he's underage. "You want anything, Chip?"

"Uh, I don't know…"

"I'll get you water."

"Alright."

I came back with the drinks and sat back down at the table. "Ya know, Chip, it's ok being short."

"Oh thanks, Pudge, 'cause you know _soooo_ much about it. You're a giant."

"I'm 6'0"."

"Gigantic." We both laughed. I was surprised he could joke about it, because the more I thought about it, the more it depressed me. "But in all seriousness, dude, I'm really sorry."

"Don't start trying to pity me or anything. People who don't endure it always feel worse than the actual victim, but they're secretly glad it wasn't them. I'm not saying that's you, but people do that _all the time._ Don't feel bad or sorry about anything, Pudge, because if I don't, then you don't have to. He's gone."

"Sorry, but I'm just _sorry_, because you're my friend." Maybe he was right; I felt bad because it wasn't happening to me.

"Thanks, but you really don't have to. I'll just have to get back at him one day."

"And how are ya gonna do that," Dolores asked.

The Colonel shrugged. "You'll see. Let's go see what shitty games Pudge has so I can beat the shit out of him."

"My games aren't shitty and who says you'll beat me? I can hold my own in video games."

"Keep talking, Pudge, let's just go play video games."

And we did...


End file.
